Special Issue "Environmental Laws and Sustainability"

Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. Joel A. Mintz
Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad Law Center, 3305 College Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33314, USA
Website: http://nsulaw.nova.edu/faculty/profiles.cfm?pageid=65
E-Mail:
Phone: +1 954 262 6160
Fax: +1 954 262 3835
Interests: enforcement of environmental laws; toxic substance and hazardous waste management; environmental impact analysis; climate change; atmospheric pollution; water pollution control

Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. John C. Dernbach
Distinguished Professor of Law, Widener University, 3800 Vartan Way, Harrisburg, PA 17106-9382, USA
Website: http://law.widener.edu/Academics/Faculty/ProfilesHbg/DernbachJohnC.aspx
E-Mail:
Phone: +1 717 541 1933
Fax: +1 717 541 3966
Interests: sustainable development; climate change law; environmental law; governance for sustainability; law for sustainability

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable development provides a framework for humans to live and prosper in harmony with nature rather than, as we have for centuries, at nature’s expense. Nonetheless, sustainability does not now have an adequate or supportive legal foundation, in spite of the many environmental and natural resources laws that exist. If we are to make significant progress toward a sustainable society, much less achieve sustainability, we will need to develop and implement laws and legal institutions that do not now exist, or that exist in a much different form. As clients in government, business, and nongovernmental organizations increasingly demand legal work that addresses sustainable development issues, lawyers and policy makers are now responding to that demand. This special issue is not just about the relationship between law and sustainability. The contributors to this issue will also attempt to answer, in various ways, the question of how law can and should be used to achieve sustainability—hence the title, “law for sustainability.” The urgency of the task before us requires this kind of engaged scholarship: providing information, tools, and ideas that policy makers, practicing lawyers, and others can use to address the challenges and opportunities of sustainability.

Prof. Dr. John C. Dernbach
Prof. Dr. Joel A. Mintz
Guest Editors

• law
• environmental law
• natural resources law
• governance
• integrated decisionmaking
• precautionary approach
• sustainable development
• reflexive law